


Dream

by wholocker78218



Series: 25 Days of Christmas [10]
Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Baby Fic, Cute, F/M, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-10
Updated: 2020-12-10
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:34:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28019331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wholocker78218/pseuds/wholocker78218
Summary: Sequel to Christmas Tree (Day 3 of Christmas) Barson Christmas with their daughter.
Relationships: Rafael Barba/Olivia Benson
Series: 25 Days of Christmas [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2036830
Comments: 4
Kudos: 19





	Dream

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cjbloomfield](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cjbloomfield/gifts).



> Requests are open for the next 15 days, I write for Barson, Bangan, Barisi and potentially other Rafael Barba ships (even other Raúl Esparza characters too), just talk to me on asks or private messages.
> 
> @angelicdestieldemon

Olivia woke to an empty bed in the middle of the night, Rafael’s side of the bed cold, and she worries for a moment that it was all dream. Getting up she walks through the living room but it’s dark and empty, the only light coming from the two bedrooms down the hall. She checks on Noah, his night light casting the room in a soft glow, but he’s fast asleep. Olivia closes the door until it’s only just open and pads softly down to the final door.

Rafael is softly pacing the room, his closed eyes are tired, black circles underneath and his hair is a mess, but he looks so relaxed as he softly sings to the baby in his arms. Little Catalina – Cat, usually – is clutching his t-shirt as he rocks her back to sleep. The sight of them together warms Olivia to her core and makes her sigh in relief, it’s her night to get up for Cat, the two of them taking turns to make sure at least one of them gets a good night sleep each night, but Rafael must have left her to get some rest.

She won’t lie, Olivia was a little worried about how Rafael would cope with a new-born, having never had to manage with Noah when Olivia first brought him home. But he’s taken to it quite well, he always joked that his job didn’t allow for much sleep anyway. Watching him with her though is a sight she will never get sick of. During the pregnancy he would kiss her stomach and talk to their daughter about everything they were going to do together and how much she was loved, by her mama and Papi and her big brother. Rafael was always trying to make sure Noah was involved with his sister, from the minute they told Noah, Rafael made sure that the boy knew that just because they were having a baby it didn’t mean he would be loved any less.

Olivia watches as he gently lays her back down in her cot and turns to leave the room, spotting her in the doorway, a sleepy smile is on his face and he gently closes the door, taking her hand in his as he pulls her away to the living room, to make sure they don’t wake the sleeping baby.

“I thought it was my turn tonight,” Olivia says leading him back to their bedroom.

They climb back into bed, Olivia wrapping her arms around him, their foreheads pressed together on the pillow.

“You were but you looked so peaceful, I didn’t have the heart to wake you, besides I was already up,” he replies, his voice gravelly in a way Olivia always finds attractive.

“Getting soft in your old age,” she teases, one hand reaching up to run through his hair.

Rafael was becoming self-conscious about his hair and beard, they were becoming more and more silver, and although she liked the look, she could tell it bothered him. She feels him lean into the touch as her hand rests at the nape of his neck, her fingers playing with the short hairs there.

“I’m younger than you,” he quips back, but before she can reply he continues. “But you look far better than I do. Anyway, I don’t mind going soft, you are badass enough to be the scary one.”

Olivia kisses him softly, nipping his lip in response which makes him laugh quietly. When she first met him, Olivia thought Rafael would be like the other overconfident arrogant men she had met, reluctant to listen to a woman in-charge. And although he wasn’t perfect, it was never to do with her sex, and since they’ve been together, she had come to learn that he loves a woman taking charge of him. Their daughter already has him wrapped around her little finger and she doesn’t even know it yet.

Humming against his lips Olivia pulls him closer, lifting her leg to wrap around his hip, feeling the long line of his body pressed against her front, she can feel the heat he radiates, and she clings to him.

“Get some sleep, we’ve got work tomorrow,” she kisses him again, and he mumbles a good night against her lips, falling asleep rather quickly. The lines in his face smoothing out making him look younger if it weren’t for the grey in his hair and beard.

* * *

When Olivia wakes in the morning, Rafael is still sound asleep next to her, and checking the clock she can see he still has another half hour before he needs to get moving so she leaves him to get some rest.

Walking down the corridor she wakes Noah, rousing the boy with a kiss on the forehead and telling him to head to the kitchen for breakfast. Once she’s sure he’s getting up she leaves him to see if Cat is awake. The baby is sucking on the leg of her teddy bear when she sees her mama, reaching her little arms to be picked up. Liv lifts the baby hearing a little giggle when she does so.

“Good morning, sweet girl, did you wake Papi up last night?” Olivia talks to the girl, hearing little noises in response.

Noah is sitting at the counter when she enters the kitchen, she places the little girl in her highchair and as she turns to get the cereal for Noah, she hears him talking to his sister about the dream he had last night. Olivia smiles at the sound; she was worried how Noah would feel about having a little sister but it’s clear he loves her.

Olivia is in the middle of feeding Catalina when Rafael wanders into the kitchen, his hair sticking up in every direction, making Noah laugh. Instead of trying to fix it, he ruffles Noah’s hair and kisses him on the forehead.

“Mornin’ mijo,” his voice is still gravelly with sleep and Liv smiles at the sound.

“Morning Papi, I had a weird dream last night,” Noah says excitedly.

“What did you dream about, mijo?” He asks, kissing his daughter on the head and moving Olivia’s hair out the way to lay a chaste kiss on her neck. “Good morning, mi amor.”

Noah proceeded to tell Rafael all about his dream which included a fox and a dolphin becoming friends and taking Noah on a trip to the north pole to see Santa. Olivia finished feeding Catalina and lifted her out of her highchair to get her ready for the day. Unable to resist she ruffles Rafael’s hair making it even messier and he mock scowls at her before diverting his attention back to Noah.

She changes Cat into dungarees with little flowers on them and then preps a bag with everything the little girl will need for the day, it’s Rafael’s day with Cat so she leaves the bag next to his briefcase, so he doesn’t forget it. And then pops Catalina down onto her playmat while she gets herself ready for the day.

When she re-enters the kitchen, Rafael is washing up the dishes from breakfast and takes Noah down the hall to help him choose his outfit for the day, leaving Liv to sit with her daughter while she checks her phone for any messages or emails from last night.

Noah appears a few minutes later, in a polo-shirt and jeans and sits beside his mum, playing with his sister’s feet while she giggles away. Rafael is the last to come through, his hair is now immaculate, and he’s wearing a two-piece grey suit with a pink tie and striped suspenders.

When Cat sees him, she immediately reaches up and Rafael smiles, his nose crinkling as he picks her up and cuddles her to his chest, murmuring softly to her under his breath and kissing her on the temple.

“What time is everyone coming around tonight?” He asks Liv.

Instead of going to the NYPD Christmas Party Rafael and Liv decided to just host their own, less socialising with people they really don’t like. Instead, they would rather be surround by their closest friends and their families.

“I told them to get here for about seven,” Olivia stands up, telling Noah to grab his coat as Lucy is almost here to pick him up and leans in to give Rafael a kiss. “So, don’t be late.”

Rafael arrives at his office with Cat in his arms, even after months of bringing her in, he still gets the odd stares from co-workers. Most of them never thought they’d see the day he walked in with a baby or any child regardless of age. Carmen coos over the girl like the does every time she sees her, Cat returning the favour by trying to grasp Rafael’s assistant’s hair, luckily Carmen manages to avoid the girl’s grabby hands and boops her on the nose making her giggle.

“Anything for me this morning?” He asks, and Carmen shakes her head.

“Nothing so far, you have a meeting with Rita after lunch but nothing else today so far,” she answers, checking his daily planner and calendar.

“Thank you, Carmen,” he smiles, taking one of Cat’s hands to wave at the woman.

Rafael places his briefcase and Cat’s bag down by his desk before pulling out her play mat and toys and setting her down to play, he pulls out his laptop and turns his chair to face his daughter while he checks for anything of imminent importance before grabbing his tray of paperwork and getting to work.

* * *

The morning passes fairly quickly considering, Cat having a nap on Rafael’s chest while he reads through various case files and requests. Before long it’s lunch time and Carmen brings him a wrap from the deli down the street and once he’s finished eating he grabs the baby food they were currently introducing Catalina to, she’s taking to it quite well and he’s almost done when Rita Calhoun walks into the office without knocking.

“What is that?” She asks, staring at Rafael with a look of pure confusion.

“In some places, it’s called a baby,” he quips back, glancing to her before focusing on finishing the jar of baby food.

Rita glares at him before moving to sit down in one of the chairs in-front of his desk. “I can see that, but what are you doing with a baby, more important who’s is it and how much are they paying for you to look after it.”

Rafael smirks at Rita as he wipes down Cat’s face before she reaches up to wrap her little hands around his tie, luckily, she doesn’t immediately try to eat it, so he lets her play with it, while turning his attention to Rita.

“Rita, meet my daughter Catalina,” he says, savouring the look on Rita’s face.

“One-night stand gone wrong?” She mocks and Rafael glares at her, his face softening though as Cat pulls his tie, reaching one hand up he softly strokes a finger up and down her cheek making the girl smile. “Who did you knock up then?” Rita pushes and Rafael sighs, in all honestly, he had hope Rita would have heard through the gossip vine but he supposes it is better coming from him, given how long they have known each other.

“Olivia Benson,” he reveals, and regrets it instantly at the look of pure satisfaction on Rita’s face.

“I should have known, holy shi-”

“Language!” Rafael hisses, which only makes Rita laugh harder.

“Look at you, fatherhood suits you Rafael.” She teases and then her voice softens in a way it used to when they were still close at Harvard. “How long have you and Captain Benson been together then, I assume this isn’t a one-night accident?”

“Almost two years now,” he tells her. “Cat wasn’t planned, we didn’t think it was even a possibility but then… well you can see. She’s six months now, a little premature considering Liv’s age but healthy,” he concludes unable to resist breaking out a smile at his daughter.

Rita watches him with the baby, her hair the same colour Rafael’s used to be when he was younger, but the eyes are exactly the same, green in a way you only read about in books. Her friend looks happy, happier than he has looked in years, even with the grey showing through, she hasn’t seen him look so good since they first started out in the DA’s office together all those years ago.

“I’m happy for you,” she tells him in a moment of rare honesty, and he smiles in thanks.

After that they get on with their meeting, Cat lying happily on her father chests while he argues with Rita over a suitable plea deal. After than they afternoon flies, Cat having another nap before playing for a while and then it’s home time. He packs the mat and toys away, makes sure all the supplies are back in Cat’s bag and his briefcase has the files he needs before leaving the office, telling Carmen to head home once she’s finished what she’s doing.

* * *

The party goes well, Billie and Jesse play with Noah, Cat watches on from her father’s arms, Liv sitting by him with a glass of wine in her hand. Rafael is chatting with Sonny’s boyfriend Isaiah Holmes, about an old case that Isaiah was trying to get re-tried and Olivia moves over to sit with Amanda, Sonny and Fin talking in the kitchen.

“He’s come so far from holding Noah like bomb, I don’t think he’s had his hands off her since we arrived,” Amanda jokes, making Liv laugh.

“Sometimes I have to remind him she’s not going anywhere,” Olivia jokes in return. “I think sometimes he thinks this is all a dream he’s going to wake up from, hell sometimes so do I.” She pauses, watching Cat and Rafael and then turns her eyes to Noah grinning on the floor with Jesse playing games with Jesse’s Hot Wheels. “I never thought I would have Noah, never mind a baby. I woke up last night, it’s my night to get up when she cries. But Rafa wasn’t there, his side was cold, and I had a horrible feeling that maybe I had dreamed all of this up, that none of it was real,” She reveals, a feeling of relief having told someone.

Amanda nods her head in understanding. Then pinches her friend and boss on the wrist, “See you’re not dreaming.” She grins making Liv gently hit her arm in return but she’s smiling as well.

Sonny and Isaiah are the last to leave, Noah and Cat having been put to be a while ago, and Rafael is sliding into bed, Olivia not long behind him. Once she’s settled, Rafael pressed against her back, his arms around her, she hears him speak.

“Rita Calhoun came to my office today, she had no idea about Cat, you should have seen her face,” he laughs quietly against her neck, Olivia shaking with silent laughter as well.

“I would have loved to have seen that…” she replies. Debating on whether or not to tell him about last night she decided to share it anyway. “When I woke up last night, I had horrible feeling that this was all a dream. That we didn’t have Cat, and I didn’t have you,” she confides, turning in his arms to face him.

He has a soft look in his eyes as he pulls her closer.

“Mi Amor, I’ve told you before, I’m not going anywhere.” He kisses her and she smiles, wrapping her arms around him tighter, she can’t bring herself to let go.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed, I appreciate everyone who reads my work even if you dont leave kudos or comments I appreciate you taking the time. Have a wonderful Christmas however you celebrate (or don't celebrate)!


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